Midday Devotion

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
² Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
⁴ Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵ which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
⁸ the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
¹² Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
¹³ Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (ESV)

¹ The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
² Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.
³ The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring.
⁴ Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!
⁵ Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore. (ESV)

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (ESV)

¹ Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
² And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.
³ And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.
⁴ So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
⁵ And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
⁶ For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
⁹ Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry.
¹⁰ You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.
¹¹ There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’
¹² And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.
¹³ You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.”
¹⁴ Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.
¹⁶ When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.
¹⁷ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan,
¹⁸ and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’
¹⁹ And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.
²⁰ Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²⁴ Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.”
²⁵ So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob.
²⁶ And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them.
²⁷ But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
²⁸ And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” (ESV)

¹ And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”
² And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
³ And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,
⁴ “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”
⁵ And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray.
⁶ Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.
⁷ And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet.
⁸ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.
⁹ “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them.
¹⁰ And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.
¹¹ And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
¹² And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.
¹³ And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
¹⁴ “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
¹⁵ Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out,
¹⁶ and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.
¹⁷ And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!
¹⁸ Pray that it may not happen in winter.
¹⁹ For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be.
²⁰ And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.
²¹ And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.
²² For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
²³ But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand. (ESV)

¹ The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
² “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities.
³ The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts.
⁴ The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around.
⁵ And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.
⁶ “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.
⁷ All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands.
⁸ And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”
⁹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
¹¹ then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there.
¹² The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.
¹³ And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge.
¹⁴ You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge.
¹⁵ These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.
¹⁶ “But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.
¹⁷ And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.
¹⁸ Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.
¹⁹ The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.
²⁰ And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died,
²¹ or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
²² “But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait
²³ or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm,
²⁴ then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules.
²⁵ And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.
²⁶ But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled,
²⁷ and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood.
²⁸ For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.
²⁹ And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
³⁰ “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
³¹ Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death.
³² And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest.
³³ You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
³⁴ You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

¹ The heads of the fathers’ houses of the clan of the people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel.
² They said, “The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.
³ But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.
⁴ And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
⁵ And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph is right.
⁶ This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father.
⁷ The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
⁸ And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers.
⁹ So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’”
¹⁰ The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD commanded Moses,
¹¹ for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father’s brothers.
¹² They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan. (ESV)

²⁸ Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
²⁹ And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.
³⁰ And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah,
³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
³² Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
³³ And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.
³⁴ As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
³⁵ And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
³⁶ And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
³⁷ On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.
³⁸ And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.
³⁹ And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him.
⁴⁰ And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
⁴¹ Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”
⁴² While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
⁴³ And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples,
⁴⁴ “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”
⁴⁵ But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
⁴⁶ An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.
⁴⁷ But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side
⁴⁸ and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
⁴⁹ John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.”
⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”
⁵¹ When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
⁵² And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him.
⁵³ But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.
⁵⁴ And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”
⁵⁵ But he turned and rebuked them.
⁵⁶ And they went on to another village. (ESV)

⁹ I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.
¹⁰ I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
¹¹ As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!
¹² For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.
¹³ Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!
¹⁴ Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt!
¹⁵ Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
¹⁶ But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
¹⁷ As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! (ESV)